Shasta boys soccer earns crucial draw with rival Enterprise

Wolves play final hour of match undermanned

The Shasta and Enterprise High boys soccer teams played to a 1-1 draw Jan. 30 at the Hornets Nest.

Thomas Lawrence

Competitive people don't usually celebrate ties.

So when the Wolves' Bryant Thorne smiled wide and shouted, "That's how Shasta does it, baby!" after a 1-1 draw with Enterprise boys soccer on Wednesday night at the Hornets Nest, it came with a purpose.

The Wolves were jubilant because they'd lost a man, captain Gabe Chimenti, to a red card in the 21st minute, and found a way to not only salvage a tie against their rivals, but earned themselves the inside track to a Sac River League championship and the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Northern Section Division I playoffs.

Shasta goalkeeper Oscar Carlos was his team's savior, making seven saves and allowing only Nathan Bachand's penalty kick after Chimenti's foul in the goal box.

"After that red card, we got together and I told them, ‘Keep your heads high. This is our game — never give up," Carlos said. "'We got this game.' "

The Wolves listened, and less than four minutes after the Hornets went ahead, Enterprise committed a penalty in its own box.

Junior Josh Bland stepped in for Shasta, and struck a low liner to the left and into the net to equalize it.

From there, Shasta put Odi Rizos, usually an offensive threat, at the back, and did everything in its power to keep Enterprise scoreless.

"We can still do the business together, but we have to stay connected," Shasta coach Kenny Breedlove said, on what he told his players. "We have a very deep team, so four or five subs came in.

"I asked every player to play two positions."

Part of the reason why Breedlove had to move so many players was because Shasta garnered six yellow cards during the match — compared to zero for Enterprise — on everything from pushing to delay of game. The Hornets' Bachand got a late red card and ejection for taunting, but with less than five minutes remaining in the match.

That differential gave Enterprise even more of an advantage, coach Jim Henderson said, but it couldn't deliver.

"It was pretty liberal with cards. We had the opportunity through that, and we didn't finish, so it's disappointing," Henderson said. "That's not the result we wanted. That's not the result we needed."

Enterprise (6-2-1 SRL, 11-3-1) did put pressure on Carlos throughout the match, as Juan Ramirez nailed a laser of a shot just above the crossbar in the 29th minute.

Oscar saved our bacon a couple times."

Early in the second half, Marco Weyermann, an Enterprise sophomore and German exchange student, sent a free kick from dead center skipping along the turf and toward the left side of the goal. But Carlos got full extension on a dive, tipping the ball away and then gathering himself to block a rocket shot from point-blank range.

"When it was coming, I just said in my head, ‘This is mine,' " said Carlos, a junior. "I just put my hands up and I had it.

"That was a good feeling."

Shasta (7-1-2 SRL, 12-1-2) kept holding on, as Carlos rose up and tipped Enterprise's Rees Robertson's shot over the crossbar. The Hornets' Matt Newton threatened, too, and nearly flicked a goal in with a finesse shot in the 60th minute.

Outside of the penalty kick, Carlos corralled, blocked and handled every Shasta shot on goal, and with Bland's penalty kick, the Wolves got the result they needed.

"Josh Bland did the business and finished," Breedlove said. "Oscar saved our bacon a couple times, and we switched up our formation. I feel like I never coached harder in my life to get a tie.

"It was a beautiful thing."

Shasta has two league matches left, at home against West Valley on Friday and at Foothill a week later, and feels like a league crown is within sight. The Wolves have outscored those teams 12-1 this season, and can't wait at a shot at a top seed and a likely guaranteed stay at Thompson Field — where they've won 14 straight.